Opinion:
¶ “A Carbon Correction Factor For Trucks? Don’t Be Fooled By The Oil Industry’s Latest Con” • After the European Commission proposed new CO₂ targets for trucks and buses, the fuels lobby’s proposed a carbon correction factor in the standards that would not incentivise alternative fuels. It is an accounting trick to keep selling fossil fuels. [CleanTechnica]
Mercedes-Benz truck (Mercedes-Benz image)
World:
¶ “Climate Change, Human Activity Causing Global Water Cycles To Become ‘Increasingly Erratic’” • Climate change and human activity are making the world’s hydrological cycle “increasingly erratic,” a report from the World Meteorological Organization shows. The change is due to droughts, extreme rainfall, and the increased melting of snow, ice and glaciers. [ABC News]
¶ “Stockholm To Ban Gasoline And Diesel Cars From Downtown Commercial Area In 2025” • A ban on gasoline and diesel-fueled cars from a commercial district of Stockholm’s downtown in 2025 will be the first for a European capital, a city official said. The ban will take effect in a 20-block area of shops, pedestrian walkways, and a few homes. [ABC News]
Stockholm (Alexandre Van Thuan, Unsplash, cropped)
¶ “Volvo Cars, Ford, Renault Group, IKEA, Others To Climate Commissioner: Electrify Corporate Fleets By 2030” • EU Climate Commissioner Šefčovič said the European Commission will launch a public consultation for an action to speed electrification of corporate fleets by 2030.” Over 40 organisations called on him to deliver on his promise. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “China Powers Up Bangladesh’s Wind Power Project” • The first centralized wind power project in Bangladesh, the Cox’s Bazar wind power project, is connected to the grid and started power generation, said its operator, the China’s State Power Investment Corp. The project will provide Bangladesh with about 145 million kWh of electricity per year. [China Daily]
Near Cox’s Bazar (Masum-al-Hasan Rocky, CC-BY-SA 4.0, cropped)
¶ “Germany Accelerates Onshore Windpower Expansion” • Germany is accelerating the expansion of onshore wind power. Newly installed capacity in the first nine months of 2023 already surpassed last year’s total by more than 50%, with the total coming to 2,436 MW, according to estimates published by the Onshore Wind Energy Agency. [Xinhua]
¶ “Brazil Set To Widen Lead As Cleanest Major Power Sector: Maguire” • Brazil generated nearly 93% of its electricity from clean sources during the first nine months of 2023, up from 91% in the same period of 2022. Brazil passed France as the largest clean-power share (including nuclear) among the world’s major economies. [Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide]
Wind turbines in Brazil (Amanda Bampi Tegler, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
¶ “Bloc Quebécois Stands With The Algonquin Nation Against A Proposed Nuclear Waste Site” • The Bloc Québécois supports Algonquin First Nations opposition to a proposed nuclear waste site near the Ottawa River, a culturally important river and harvesting site for First Nations. The waste site is to be developed by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. [National Observer]
US:
¶ “Idaho Officials Briefly Order Evacuation Of Small Town After Gas Line Explodes” • Authorities briefly ordered evacuations for most of the town of Middleton, Idaho, after a gas pipeline exploded. The explosion happened when a worker using an excavator ruptured a 22-inch (56-cm) natural gas pipeline near the town of about 10,600 people. [ABC News]
Museum in Middleton (Tamanoeconomico, CC-BY-SA 4.0, cropped)
¶ “SEIA And Nature Conservancy Announce Historic Agreement To Unlock Solar Power Development” • The SEIA said that an historic agreement to cool opposition to solar development had been reached between major solar developers, conservation groups, environmental and environmental justice groups, tribal entities, and agricultural organizations. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Rural Solar Opponents About To Face Tsunami Of PV” • An organized movement against rural solar development has been rising across the US, partly fueled by fossil energy stakeholders. Now solar developers are pushing back, in a powerful alliance with conservationists, tribal groups, agriculture stakeholders, utilities, and others. [CleanTechnica]
Please click on the image to enlarge it. (US DOE image)
¶ “Tesla Model 3 And Model Y Now Cost Less Than Gasoline-Powered Equivalents” • For years, we have been hearing an old refrain about how EVs like Teslas cost so much more than cars powered by gasoline engines that only the wealthy can afford them. Many had the attitude, “Call me when EVs are affordable.” Well, now the call has arrived. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Iowa’s Top Scientists Focus Solar Power In 2023 Climate Report” • Some 221 science faculty from 36 universities and colleges from across Iowa stepped away from grading papers to present the 13th annual Iowa Climate Statement this week, and it’s focused on the sun. Solar energy is where it’s at, or should be, according to the statement. [WOWT]
Solar farm (Gunnar Ridderström, Unsplash)
¶ “Administration Announces Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs To Drive Clean Manufacturing And Jobs” • President Biden and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm are announcing seven clean hydrogen hubs that were chosen to receive $7 billion in funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to propel the domestic market for clean hydrogen. [The White House]
¶ “Three Counties Could Power Over 250,000 Homes With Clean Energy With One Change” • Analysis by the Environment California Research and Policy Center has shown that three counties, Ventura, Los Angeles, and San Diego, could power over 270,000 homes simply by installing solar energy farms along their highways. [Yahoo Finance]
Have an astonishingly quiet day.
geoharvey 
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